Octopus and pork belly, seafood pancake in Gimpo: Osaejju

Osaejju, a spicy octopus specialist in Pungmu-dong

Last week, on a weekday evening, a friend recommended this Pungmu-dong spot, so I went to check out Osaejju, a spicy octopus place. I parked at the public lot in front of the restaurant, just a 1-2 minute walk away — the lot was big and convenient, which was nice (though watch out, it fills up on weekends!).

It's on the 2nd floor. There's an elevator, so it was easy to get up :)

The restaurant is right there on the left as soon as you step off the elevator on the 2nd floor, so it was easy to find. When I used to live in Cheonho-dong, I often went to the spicy octopus alley there, but after moving I had trouble finding a spicy octopus specialist and missed my favorite jju-sam. It's not exactly right at my doorstep, but finding a good spicy octopus spot 10 minutes away by car made for a good day!

The place was spacious and the interior totally clean. It felt pleasant, which I liked~ Since it was still early evening, there were plenty of open tables, so we sat by a nice window seat.

My husband reading the menu closely, and our son who clearly just came from taekwondo lol

What we ordered and the one-menu-per-person rule

* Ordering one menu item per person is required. We went with the basic jju-sam. I kept going back and forth on whether to add cheese, but my husband doesn't like cheese so I let it go lol. With a steamed egg dish and seafood pancake on the menu, it was a Pungmu-dong spot that worked well for eating out with a kid. I felt a little bad that the menu leaned toward what the parents wanted, but luckily our little filial son happily ate the seafood pancake and side dishes lol.

Self-serve bar and high chairs

Not a huge variety of side dishes, but the ones that go perfectly with spicy octopus were on the self-serve bar, and with vegetable prices sky-high these days, it was great to be able to eat as much as we wanted without worrying :)

There were also plenty of high chairs available, so it seems like an even easier place to bring babies.

Parking info for Osaejju

That's the public parking lot visible from the restaurant window. Free on weekdays, time-based fee on weekends.

And they told us that if the public lot is full, you can use the T-station parking lot nearby for free :) Good to know for planning your visit!

Jju-sam, delicious every time

It had been so long since I had jju-sam, I was genuinely happy. The pork belly was brought out fast right after ordering.

Introducing the side dishes~ Seasoned bean sprouts and gopchang-gim (seasoned laver) came out too, so there were plenty of sides my son could eat.

And a healthy salad

And cool oi-naengguk (cold cucumber soup). So good...

The rice wasn't plain rice either. It's the healthy kind — I don't know the name, I just know it's good for you ^^

The soft, pudding-like steamed egg was really good for kids to eat. And the portion was huge!

They grill the thin, shaved pork belly first~ and drain the fat so it doesn't get too greasy — the grease drips down through a hole at the bottom, so no need to worry about calories~

Just as the pork belly was about done, the staff brought over the octopus right on time. They cook and stir-fry it directly for you. And such a thoughtful touch — before adding the octopus, they asked if they should set aside a few pieces of pork belly for our kid before the spicy sauce touched it. Even I hadn't thought of that ^^ lol, sorry mom fail. Really great service.

Seafood pancake loaded with seafood

I already love seafood pancake, but we added it because of our kid, and since it was raining, the seafood pancake was truly the pick of picks. Crispy on the outside, moist inside, and packed with more seafood than vegetables — nutritionally, a great menu item.

The combo of octopus and seafood pancake — words fail me. So good.

Not the owner's hands lol — my husband cutting the seafood pancake, look at the seafood tumbling out~ shrimp rolling around lol. Dipped in the spicy soy sauce, crispy-outside-moist-inside sweet-salty-spicy — so good, this Pungmu-dong spicy octopus and pork belly spot, Osaejju.

Two servings, but such a generous portion of octopus

By the time we were finishing the pancake, the octopus was ready too! Even though it was just two servings, the portion was really generous~ Plenty of vegetables, octopus, and pork belly.

The quality of Osaejju's octopus in particular was really impressive — the legs were so thick I couldn't tell if it was octopus or actual squid tentacle-sized octopus~ First time seeing such plump octopus!!!

Tastes great placed on a perilla leaf too~

Put it on a radish pickle slice with bean sprouts and dip it in mayo — you know how the flavors you already know are the scariest, right? An absolutely killer combo!

The pancake portion was so generous we tried piling it on top of the pancake too, and my husband said it was the secret pork trick lol, saying it was so good.

Finishing with spicy octopus fried rice

By the time we'd finished most of the pancake, I was so full I hesitated on the fried rice, but figured even if we left some, we should at least try a bite, so I ordered just one serving.

Octopus fried rice grilled golden on the hot plate~~ You know you have to wait until the bottom gets that crispy crust, right?

They even topped it with a fried egg for a fully nutritious finish to the octopus fried rice :) By the time we finished eating, the place was almost full even though it was a weekday — this Pungmu-dong spicy octopus spot, Osaejju! Eating with a kid means a lot of menu restrictions, but sometimes parents need to eat what they want too~ Definitely go when you're craving something spicy~~